A Project Bookmark Canada plaque featuring the work of Sudbury author, playwright and actor Matt Heiti will be unveiled on the wall outside of the Townehouse Tavern in downtown Sudbury May 3.
The unveiling event, which gets underway at 4 p.m., will feature readings and performances celebrating the diverse and vibrant literary culture in the city.
Project Bookmark Canada is an initiative that “creates a permanent series of site-specific literary exhibits using text from imagined stories that take place in real locations.”
An excerpt from Heiti's 2013 novel “The City Still Breathing” will be featured on the plaque outside of The Townehouse.
“The City Still Breathing” is about a body found on the side of the highway by the police.
It later goes missing, making its way, over the course of one early winter night, all around Sudbury and through the lives and dreams of 11 very different people, all damaged in some way, eventually bringing them together in a strange moment of violence.
Heiti, who said he spent a lot of his 20s at The Townehouse, calls the bar The Nickel Bin in the book, referring to some of the lettering on the historic establishment's iconic sign.
“The Nickel Bin ends up being a central location for a lot the characters,” he said.
The bookmark will feature and excerpt where one of the characters exits the bar and steps out into the blinding light, and looks across the street at the train tracks and the Budd car.
“There's just something really time capsule about that whole corner and the view from it,” Heiti said in an interview about the project back in January.
“Project Bookmark Canada and its Bookmarks provide a unique reading experience and a deeper understanding of the country and its people,” said Project Bookmark Canada board president Don Oravec, in a press release.
“Through audio walks and author talks, in person and online, the plaques are a launching place for conversation, collaboration and learning about the nation. We are pleased to add Sudbury to the Canadian Literary Trail of Bookmarks.”
